Description

Sequel to Star Fleet I: The Battle Begins, this time you have been accepted as an Altern (UGA equivalent for Cadet) in the Krellan Empire. Build a successful military career as Krellan commander completing all missions given to you by the Krellan Fleet HQ against the United Galactic Alliance (UGA) and climb the military ladder to finally reach the rank of Admiral.

Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander is a 2D starship simulation and strategy game using ASCII graphics which involves intergalactic reconnaissance, starship battles, diplomatic tactics, and planetary invasion, comprised in specific tasks given to you for each mission. Unlike Star Fleet I: The Battle Begins, the time flow of this game is not turn-based, the universe "moves" when your ship moves, while on other occasions, it is real-time.

Playing Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander consists of issuing commands for your starship, may it be for navigational or combat orders among others. Issuing commands is done by pressing a specific letter on the various display screens which issue a certain command. The purpose of the game is to successfully complete an assigned mission, while doing so you may also further increase the “ratings” of your missions by carrying out independent reconnaissance, battles and other “mini missions” identifiable within the game. Gameplay elements of the game may be identified as the following:

Space: The Final Frontier
Each mission is designated in a random area of space within the borders UGA territory. This regional space is approximately 35 light years wide and 15 light years deep [note: light years is a measurement of distance, not time], or known as “sectors” in Star Fleet 1. Within this regional space, there are solar systems with planets, black holes, ion storms in addition to friendly and enemy ships and establishments.

Planets within a solar system may be orbited by your ship. A landing party may also be sent down for a survey or establish a base to further supply routes. If a planet contains intellectual life forms, diplomacy may be carried out (if the civilization fulfills certain requirements) to bring them under the Empire, or simply send in shock troops to capture slaves…before or after you bombard them.

Intergalactice Combat
Combat comes into 2 different forms: the first is combat between ships and starbases, the second is planetary invasions.

Starship battles occur when an enemy ship (or starbase) is detectable in normal space or in orbit. When combat issues (or while in orbit), the gameplay changes from turned-based to real-time. Ships may then commence with firing torpedoes and phasors. If a ship’s shield is down, the opposing ship may send in a boarding party to commence a hit-and-run tactic, capture the ship, or slaughter the lot. Capturing ships will enable you to detain prisoners, including the captured ship itself (if delivered to a Krellan Starfort), significantly increasing your mission ratings.

Planetary invasions consist of bombarding the planet with phasors and torpedoes (optional) to weaken its defenses and later sending in legions down to the planet to capture it. Planetary invasions may only be conducted in planets with intelligent life forms. Another option is to totally obliterate the planet, using obliterator pods...turning the planet into a dust of asteroids. [Note: In earlier versions of Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander, planetary invasions does not work.]

Critic Reviews

Forums

Trivia

I wish to correct some misconceptions and misstatements that were made concerning Star Fleet II in the previous trivia and reviews. As the author of the game and the President of Interstel at the time it was released, I can be considered as the ultimate authority.

1. Quality Assurance was important during the development of SF2. We had about two dozen playtesters who tested it for 1-2 years during its final development and I have volumes of bug reports with fixes. However, SF2 was a very, very complex game and despite our best efforts, the testing was inadequate due to the almost limitless situations and diversity of PC machines/configurations that it could be run on. We were under pressure from EA to release it in time for Christmas 1989 and when it was released, I thought it was ready. However, with tens of thousands of users instead of two dozen, many more bugs were found.

2. The planetary invasion module did work in the initial Version 1.0 - we would not have released it if it hadn't. However, we later found out that some machines or DOS versions had problems with it, which was corrected in the later versions.

3. SF2 was NOT the cause of Interstel's demise, which was instead the result of a hostile takeover bid that caused me to leave the company in 1990 and a change of ownership by 1991. Bad management and marketing decisions caused Interstel to disappear in 1992 with the IRS hunting for its current owner.

4. There was never a dispute between Interstel and EA, at least through 1990 when I was with the company. I don't know what happened after that.

5. Version 1.5 of SF2 was released as an update in 1990 and corrected nearly all the bugs that have been reported (it is available from several sources online). Not only did it fix bugs, but it also added many enhancements to the game that were based on experience playing it and that I did not have time to put into the original version. Many, many people (including myself) have completed Version 1.5 all the through to the rank of Imperial Tribune (i.e., all 35 missions) so it is possible. However, the game becomes very challenging and cannot be won without the proper tactics.